 HMCSSte. Therese | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Canada | |
| Name | Ste. Therese |
| Namesake | Sainte-Thérèse-de-Gaspé, Quebec |
| Ordered | 1 February 1943 |
| Builder | Davie Shipbuilding,Lauzon |
| Laid down | 18 May 1943 |
| Launched | 16 October 1943 |
| Commissioned | 28 May 1944 |
| Decommissioned | 2 November 1945 |
| Identification | Pennant number: K 366 |
| Recommissioned | 22 January 1955 |
| Decommissioned | 30 January 1967 |
| Reclassified | Prestonian-class frigate |
| Identification | pennant number: FFE 305 |
| Motto | "En devoir, l'honneur" (In duty-honour)[1] |
| Honours & awards | Atlantic 1945, North Sea 1945[1][2] |
| Fate | Sold for scrapping 1967 |
| Badge | Azure, three crescents conjoined, two above fesswise and one below, surmounted by a mullet or.[1] |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | River-classfrigate |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | |
| Beam | 36.5 ft (11.13 m) |
| Draught | 9 ft (2.74 m); 13 ft (3.96 m) (deep load) |
| Propulsion | 2 x Admiralty 3-drum boilers, 2 shafts,reciprocating vertical triple expansion, 5,500 ihp (4,100 kW) |
| Speed |
|
| Range | 646 long tons (656 t; 724 short tons) oil fuel; 7,500 nautical miles (13,890 km) at 15 knots (27.8 km/h) |
| Complement | 157 |
| Armament |
|
HMCSSte. Therese was aRiver-classfrigate that served with theRoyal Canadian Navy during theSecond World War. She served primarily as a convoy escort in theBattle of the Atlantic. She was named forSainte-Thérèse-de-Gaspé, Quebec. After the war she was converted to aPrestonian-class frigate and served until 1967.
Ste. Therese was ordered on 1 February 1943 as part of the 1943–1944 River-class building program.[3][4] She was laid down on 18 May 1943 byDavie Shipbuilding and Repairing Co. Ltd. atLauzon, Quebec and launched 16 October later that year.[4] She was commissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy on 28 May 1944 atLévis, Quebec.[3]
The River-class frigate was designed by William Reed of Smith's Dock Company of South Bank-on-Tees. Originally called a "twin-screw corvette", its purpose was to improve on the convoy escort classes in service with theRoyal Navy at the time, including theFlower-class corvette. The Royal Navy placed the first orders in 1940 and the vessels were named for rivers in theUnited Kingdom, giving name to the class. In Canada they were named for towns and cities though they kept the same designation.[5] The name "frigate" was suggested by Vice-AdmiralPercy Nelles of the Royal Canadian Navy and was adopted later that year.[6]
Improvements over the corvette design included improved accommodation which was markedly better. The twin engines gave only three more knots of speed but extended the range of the ship to nearly double that of a corvette at 7,200 nautical miles (13,300 km) at 12 knots.[6] Among other lessons applied to the design was an armament package better designed to combatU-boats including a twin 4-inch mount forward and 12-pounder aft.[5] 15 Canadian frigates were initially fitted with a single 4-inch gun forward but with the exception ofHMCS Valleyfield, they were all eventually upgraded to the double mount.[6] For underwater targets, the River-class frigate was equipped with aHedgehog anti-submarine mortar and depth charge rails aft and four side-mounted throwers.[5]
River-class frigates were the first Royal Canadian Navy warships to carry the 147B Sword horizontal fan echo sonar transmitter in addition to the irregular ASDIC. This allowed the ship to maintain contact with targets even while firing unless a target was struck. Improved radar and direction-finding equipment improved the RCN's ability to find and track enemy submarines over the previous classes.[5]
Canada originally ordered the construction of 33 frigates in October 1941.[5][6] The design was too big for the shipyards on theGreat Lakes so all the frigates built in Canada were built in dockyards along the west coast or along theSt. Lawrence River.[6] In all Canada ordered the construction of 60 frigates including ten for the Royal Navy that transferred two to theUnited States Navy.[5]
After working up in St. Margaret's Bay andBermuda,Ste. Therese returned toHalifax in mid-August 1944. She left for England in October to join escort group EG 25. She remained with that group patrolling the waters around theUnited Kingdom until February 1945 when she was reassigned to escort group EG 28, based out of Halifax. She was Senior Officer's Ship of the group for at least the period of 14 March to 20 April 1945.[7] She returned to Canada and served locally around Halifax until the end of the war. She was paid off on 22 November 1945 atSydney, Nova Scotia and laid up atShelburne in reserve.[3]
Ste. Therese was chosen to undergo conversion to aPrestonian-class ocean escort as part of the need to expand the anti-submarine force within the navy. This meant a flush-decked appearance aft, with a larger bridge and taller funnel. Her hull forward was strengthened against ice and the quarterdeck was enclosed to contain twoSquid anti-submarine mortars.[8] On 1 January 1955,Ste. Therese was assigned to theSecond Canadian Escort Squadron of Pacific Command.[9] She emerged from her conversion atSaint John to be recommissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy with the new pennant 309 on 22 January 1955.[3][10]
From 26 July to 3 September 1955, the newly recommissionedSte. Therese was used by the Pacific Oceanographic Group to survey parts of the NorthPacific Ocean as part of a joint mission between Canada, the United States and Japan.[11][12] In November 1955,Ste. Therese was among the Canadian units that took part in one of the largest naval exercises since the Second World War off the coast of California.[13]
She returned again as an oceanographic survey platform in 1957.[14] In January 1960,Ste. Therese and three otherPrestonian-class ships made a tour of South American ports, visitingSan Diego,Balboa, theGalapagos Islands,Callao andValparaíso,Talara andLong Beach.[15]Ste. Therese was a member of theFourth Canadian Escort Squadron based out ofEsquimalt, British Columbia. In June 1960 the Fourth Canadian Escort Squadron performed a training tour of the Pacific, with stops at Adak, Alaska,Yokohama, Japan,Midway Atoll andPearl Harbor. They returned to Canada in August.[16] She served until 1967 on the west coast when she was paid off for the final time on 30 January 1967. She was towed to Japan and broken up that same year.[17][note 1]
